The establishment and re-assessment of financial crime
frameworks and the mitigation of financial crime risk have been at
the forefront of numerous discussions taking place not only in
Malta, but also worldwide. The recent increase in regulatory
pressure, the imposition of more burdensome penalties and the
increased sophistication surrounding the manner in which financial
crime is being carried out has undoubtedly instilled greater
awareness vis-à-vis the need to have more robust financial
crime frameworks in place.
What is financial crime?
Simply put, financial crime is a crime against property which
involves the illicit conversion of ownership of property for
one's individual use and benefit. Although there exists no
universally accepted definition, the term is now becoming part of
the lexicon of the financial services industry, and therefore needs
to be properly understood. One may describe financial crime as:
"any non-violent crime that generally results in
